Sony's Studio Liverpool Lives On With New Studio

IGN is reporting that Sony Liverpool (Wipeout HD, Colony Wars) is back under a new studio called Firesprite. The current leadership team is core to creating content for all PlayStation hardware from the original PlayStation to the Vita. Their first project as a studio was helping Studio Japan on PS4's augmented reality title The Playroom.

Firesprite consists of 20 people, 15 of which have been through together for years at Studio Liverpool, says Firesprite managing director Graeme Ankers.

“[Firesprite] came about organically, but we all had a shared vision," Ankers told IGN. "The founding team met up socially after Studio Liverpool and we talked about all the things we had achieved over the years, the platform launches, the variety of games, going back to [the] Psygnosis days and through to F1 and WipEout. We knew we wanted to carry on making great games.”

Right now, the team is working on a new game and that includes creating a new engine for the title.

“We have been working hard on creating a new game engine and tool chain that allows us to put the creative power in the best hands – the artists and designers,” Chris Roberts said, Firesprite's technical director. “That puts us in a great position delivering the best experiences for players. It also allows us to get our games running on multiple platforms including mobile – so we can deliver platform specific features that make the best games.”

The new game is something they hope they can reveal soon. Though many will hope for a new Wipeout game or a PlayStation exclusive title, Ankers pointed out that Firesprite is an independent team despite their connection with Sony.

Either way, it's good to know that the spirit of Sony Liverpool lives on.